Edited version of "The Protector."
Excerpt:
"You are my mate," he said to her coldly.
Tracy looked at him intensely. "What does that mean in werewolf?" She asked curiously.
"It means that you are my soulmate.'"
"You don't sound...
Tracy felt as though someone had taken a razor to her chest and yanked out her heart. Closing her eyes, she refused to stay in the room any longer. Leaving the library, she briskly stepped out, catching a glimpse of something in the hall. Focusing on the shadowy silhouette, Tracy walked forward, watching as the human form disappeared down the stairs. She tried to catch up to it but couldn't. When she reached the ground floor, the figure was gone.
Hearing a click from down the hallway, Her focus was on three sets of very large doors.Moving towards them, she wondered if they were locked. Pulling on the heavy handles of the middle two, they opened. When Tracy entered, sounds of music echoed through the empty chamber. It was another magnificent room. Lit by the brilliance of sun light, oversize windows above French style glass doors flanked the entire left side. The dazzling wall sparkled as rays flooded through. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Larger, and more spectacular than any Tracy had ever seen, the fixtures shimmered with unnatural opulence. In the middle of the checkered floor sat a nine-foot grand piano, its keys being played brilliantly by the same girl Tracy had stood up for the other day. "Carrie? Chloe? No Carla." She thought, mesmerized by her skills on the keyboard.
Still dressed in black, her dark brown eyes were closed as she swayed with the effortless movements of her fingers over the keys. So engrossed in the haunting melody, that the girl didn't notice Tracy's approach.
For at least three minutes, Tracy stood there in amazement. Suddenly Carla looked up and stopped playing.
"Please continue!" Tracy pleaded.
"No one should be in here." Carla said, standing quickly to her feet.
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^Carla Staunton-Baines^
"Why not?"
"Shouldn't you be somewhere else?" Carla asked, obviously irritated by Tracy's presence.
"Not really." Tracy said. "I was ditched both literally and figuratively."
"That's just great!" Carla responded sarcastically.
"Aren't you going to ask me what happened?"
"I don't care."
"Shouldn't you be in training?" Tracy asked.
Carla sighed, "I'm an Omega, we don't train." She said, making her way across the polished floor.
"Why not?" Tracey insisted, following the girl from behind.
"Because we're considered weak."
"I don't believe that." Tracy said, studying the girl's stolid look. "Can you teach me to be a werewolf?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Growling in annoyance, Carla opened the doors to exit. Cautiously looking both ways, she went out the room with Tracy still trailing behind her. Walking down the main corridor, she opened a small door that exited into the woods. Passing through the tall trees of the forest, both girls walked for about half a mile, until they entered a clearing.
"Why are you here?" Carla demanded, "you're not a werewolf. You don't have to be here."
"I'm a Protector." Tracy said.
"So? From what I hear, your powers kick in automatically."
"Well yes," Tracy said, "But if I don't learn to control them, my energy will be drained."
"I'm sure there are people back there who can teach you whatever it is you want to know." Carla said dismissively. Not responding, Tracy thought about something much more interesting.
"You mask your scent." Tracy said, realizing the girl didn't smell as strong as the others. "Why? Who are you hiding from?"
"I have a scent." Carla said, somewhat perturbed.
"Not now." Tracy said. "I think you're hiding your real one." wrinkling her nose at the unpleasant odor. "How do you stand that peppery smell? It makes my eyes water."
"I've learned to live with it." Carla sighed.
"Why do you use it?" Tracy asked unaware of the demand in her tone.
Sighing again, Carla looked at Tracy more thoughtfully. "My mother was human, my father a lone werewolf. Before they met, he had killed his mate in a jealous rage. When he and my mother were together, he would hurt her; have sex with her while calling out his dead mate's name. I hated him for that. When he disappeared for over a year, I wished that he would never return. When he did, we tried locking him out, but he broke through the clasps likes they were nothing. I was so scared. My mom was already dead by the time the officer arrived. My father is serving time for involuntary manslaughter. The courts sent me to live with my Uncle Jordan, the only living relative that was willing to take me in."
"So, Mr. Baines is your uncle?"
"Yeah. My father was his older half-brother from a drunken mistake their father made in college." Carla sighed, sadly rubbing her temples. "Seems like mistakes run deep in this family."
"You're not a mistake." Tracy said firmly, "Do you hide your scent because he might find you?"
"Partly, though I doubt he'll come looking for me when he gets out."
Noticing how uncomfortable Carla looked, Tracy asked, "Why are you telling me all this?
"You are a Luna, or soon to be one. I'm a mere Omega. You share the Alpha's power as his mate, even if you're not fully bonded. You can compel me to tell you the truth." Carla said wearily.
"What?" Tracy yelped with shock, "That's terrible! That's like an invasion of privacy. I don't want you to tell me anything because I make you. You should tell me because you want to as a friend".
"Why would you want to be my friend?"
Despite the tough girl loner appearance, something about Carla had struck a chord with Tracy. She was determined to heal the wrong in her life, from her dad dying to relocating to a strange area, to discovering her unknown powers and all the responsibilities she had not asked for. They both suffered in life, with no one to truly lean on.
"Because you're alone, like me. Because you hide like me. Because we both lost someone we loved and needed." Tracy said.
"But you have friends." Carla said with a hint of jealousy.
"I laugh. I smile. I'm amusing. But people don't truly know me. Sometimes I hope they will become a friend, but you're much more real to me because we shared a piece of ourselves." Tracy smiled.
"Fine. I'll teach you to be a werewolf." Carla said, "but first, you're gonna need some better clothes."
